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person1943–

Bessel van der Kolk

Disciplines:
psychiatry
trauma
clinical psychology/ptsd
usa/netherlands/us

Summary

Dutch-American psychiatrist — founder of the Trauma Research Foundation — author of The Body Keeps the Score — who brought somatic (body-based) trauma therapy to mainstream attention and is the most cited psychiatrist on trauma.

Core Contribution

Creates the somatic trauma framework for popular audiences — The Body Keeps the Score's argument (that trauma is stored in the body's nervous system, not just in cognitive memory, and that body-based therapies — EMDR, yoga, theater — are often more effective than talk therapy) is the most accessible synthesis of the somatic trauma literature.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Body Keeps the Score

Traumatic Stress

The Haunted Self

Historical Influences

Pierre Janet Judith Herman Peter Levine

Intellectual Lineage

Netherlands Utrecht UniversityHarvard Medical School Boston University Trauma Research Foundation

Contemporaries & Peers

Judith Herman Peter Levine Gabor Maté

Minds Influenced

Trauma therapy

Intellectual Posterity

The Body Keeps the Score Trauma Research Foundation Somatic trauma therapy mainstream adoption

Discussing

Bessel van der Kolk

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